Tree-spraying and irrigating system.



R. DUNLAP.

TREE SPRAYING AND IRRIGATING SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 21, 1912.

Patented Apr. 8, 1913.

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5 D in m A 3 v %%maooeo of a modified form of valve; andFig. 6 istectedby as learn".

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riots.

OREGON.

TREH-SPRAYING ARI STE-@116? iTILh'G QYSTEM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

' llatented Apr. 8,1913.

Applicsticnfiled May 21, 1912. Serial No.. 698,801.

To all whom 2'25 may concern:

Be. it known that I, ROBERT DUNLAP, a citizen of the United States,-residing at Grants-Pass, in the county of Josephine and State of Oregon,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tree-Spraying andIrrigating Systems, of which the fol-- lowing is a specification.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a system whereby thebuds of fruit trees may lie-effectively protected against injury byfrost.

In carrying out the invention, the apparatus is to be so arranged thatit willbcst perform the above function and will be For a fullunderstanding. of the presentinvention, reference is to be had to thefollowing description and to the accompanying drawings, in .whi-chtFigure 1 is a plan view of my system, showing thetrees in section; Fig.2v is a partial view, showing in elevation "the method of spraying theindividual trees; Fig. 3 is a partial sectional view of the valvecoupling located at the intersection of the. vertical and branch pipes;Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the same; Fig. 5 isa view a detail view ofthe valve member used in the modified form shown in Fig. 5. v

Throughout the following detail descr1p-' tion and on the severalfigures of the draw ings, similar parts are reference characters.

:Descrihing specifically my system, and reitorring referred to by likemain supply conduit or pipe leading from suitable source of water orliquid to be used. said. pipe preferably extending through the orchardin the most convenient manner, such as transversely of the rows of treesor plants, dcsignated B. Extcnding nann points near the valvespreferably, to the drawings, A represents a of the valve.

from the main pipe A. are provided the branch pipes or conduits Cadapted to be arranged to pass in close proximity tothe base of thetrees and small pipes D extend vertically from the branch-pipes C upwardly along the respective trunks to tops of said trees where nozzles Eare provided. The main and branch pipes may be placed above or below thesurface of the ground.

- As will be evident, the Water, either from a-pump or gravity source ofsupply, passes through the main pipe A, into the branches C and issuesfrom the nozzles E at the tops,

of the vertical pipes D, whereby a fine spray of the liquid is caused tobe thrown out over each individual tree. This has been found to veryeffectively prevent frost from injuring the buds at such times when thefrost is'likely to occur.

This same system can be equally well applied to shrubbery, strawberryplants, or the like, or wherever it. is desirable to protect theindividual plants from injury. By'em ploying disinfectant in the liquidintroduced into the pipes, it is possible to disinfect the trees orplants all at one time, or one at a time, and this system isparticularly advantageous for this. purpose. It will also be understoodthat not only are the individual trees capable of being protected fromthe effects of frost, but by these means the plants may also beirrigated. Under certain conditions, however, such for'instance, wherewater is scarce, it is desirable that the irri- 'gat-ion be accomplishedin the most economical manner, or with theleast amount of loss possible,and I have, therefore, provided a special form of valve, shownparticularly in Figs. 3to '6, by which the water instead ofpassingupwardly through the vertical .pipes B, may be turned out direct at thebase ofthe tree or plant-so that the water will bated to the rootsand-not extend over a large area, aswould be the case where the water issprayed through the nozzle E. To accomplish this, the inlets to therespective vertical pipes D- are provided with pipes D, as shown in Fig.3. Each, valve is provided with a horizontal partition l,.di-

reotly above which is an opening in the wall The valve 1' in theembodimentsho'wnin Fig.3 is inserted in the valve. coupli g 3 until the:flange 4:, rests on the though not necessarily, formed as lntegralextensions of the said top ,ofthe conning. Each valve 1 has its therespective vertical :pi el), and has its lower end open, thep'artltion1' being dis- .posed betweenthe respective apertures 2 and 8, andsaid-apertures being arranged in dilierent long1tud1nal planes of the.valve but respectively in. the planes of the apertures 6 and 7. Thelower extremity of the valve extension 1 is preferably burred so as tohold the 'pipe and valve snugly in place but permit of their beingeasily "rotated, as hereinafter setforth. The valve coupling 3*is formedwith a lateral extension 5, into the opposite ends of which the'branchpipes C are secured. and said extension 5. is provided with the upperand lower passages 6 and 7 respectively. When the water is to be usedfor spraying the buds, or in other words, allowed to pass upwardlythrough-the vertical pipe D, the latter is moved'into a predeterminedposition so that the opening il registers with the passage-6 intheextension 5 of the valve coupl ng'3, the water passing therethrough, asindicated by the arrows in 3 of the drawing.- However, when irrigatingthe in; dividualtrees, the pipe D is partlally rotated until the opening8 below the partition 1"1'egisters with the passage 7, the water thenpassing downwardly throughthe lower end of the valve extension and beingdirectly fed to the roots of the tree or plant. To cut off the How ofthe water entirely, it is only necessary to rotate the'pip'e D so thatthe openings 2 and 8 will lie intermediate their operative positions.

, Ina-Fig. 5 I have illustrated a modified form of valve means for mysystem. As in the previous description, each branch pipe C is connectedwith the extension 5 ofa valve coupling 5" and. said coupling isthreaded. at its-"upper portion to receive the lower end of the verticalpipe D. A valve 9 is adapted to be inserted in the valve coupling 5*,said valve being provided with a flange 9 at its upper portion, by meansof which it is seatedin the coupling 5* be neath the lower extremity ofthe pipe D. The valve is provided with an opening in which may beinserted a handle 10 extending through a slot in the wall of said coupling and by means of which the member 9 may beturned or rotated so asto bring the openings 2 and Sin the wall of said member to register withthe passages 6 and 7 in the extension 5" located above and below thepartition. 1' in the member 9, according to the desire of the operator.The operation of this valve is. the same as described with respect tothe preferred form shown in Fig. 3, and it will be obvious that slightchanges in the construction may be readily made without departing fromthe spirit of the invention and within the scope of the claims heretoappended.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as'new is:

1. In a system of the class described, the combination with a supplypipe having latof alinement with said supply pipe and extendingsubstantially at right angles thereto, and a valve alined longitudinallyand communicating at one end with said discharge pipe, the valve havinga partition between the planes of the outlets and being provided withapertures disposed on opposite sides of the partition and out ofalinementwith each other, whereby they are adapted to be brought intoregister with the respective outlets at difi'erent times, the end of thevalve opposite that end communicating with the discharge pipe beingopen.

2. A system of the class described, comprising a main fluid supply pipe,laterally extending branch pipes connected therewith, a plurality ofvertical pipes adapted to be arranged adjacent to the trees-or plants,each of said vertical pipes having at its lower portiona valve extensionopen at its lower end, said extension being formed with a partitiontherein and having openings in the wall'thereof above and below saidparition, a valve coupling connected with each the extension isinserted, whereby the movement of the vertical pipe into a predeterminedposition will permit the fluid to flow -:through the upper portion ofsaid pipe and when moved into another position to flow through the openlower end of said valve extension.

in presence of two witnesses.

' ROBERT DTTNLAP. Witnesses:

G. P. Jnsrnn, L. A. LANNER.

eral outlets, of a discharge pipe disposed out of the branch pipesaforesaid and into which Intestimony whereof l afiix my signature

